Catholic Schools: Saving Taxpayers $20 Billion Annually

The success of Catholic schools is important to the Catholic community but has implications for the greater common good as well. As the largest alternative to public schooling, Catholic schools help
keep public schools accountable to the public, and their viability ensures that Catholic schools continue to save public schools billions of dollars each year. For example, it costs Chicago city schools more than $10,000 annually to educate each elementary school student and more than $13,000 to educate each high school student. By educating 96,197 students in the 2007-2008 school year, Catholic schools in the Chicago area saved the public school system $1,031,415,280. Nationally, Catholic schools save taxpayers more than $20 billion.